The VIP lounge at the Frisco Gun Club, seen in a rendering, will cater exclusively to VIP members and their guests.

Frisco Gun Club CEO Christian Putnam (center, with glasses), Mayor Maher Maso (center right) and City Council members took part in the club’s groundbreaking Friday.

The exclusivity of a country club, the luxury of a private dining club and the ruggedness of a firing range will come together in a one-of-a-kind business in Frisco.

Company and city officials gathered Friday afternoon the mark the groundbreaking of what’s being billed as the nation’s largest indoor gun range on Eldorado Parkway east of the Dallas North Tollway.

The Frisco Gun Club isn’t your granddaddy’s backwoods retreat. Nor can it be compared to the vacant industrial buildings converted into nondescript indoor ranges that are common around the country today.

“Everything is more like Neiman Marcus,” owner and chief executive Christian Putnam said of his $9 million project in the Collin County suburb.

Top-level memberships carry a $7,500 one-time fee with $200 monthly dues (discounted prices are available before opening). Lower-priced memberships are also available with fewer amenities. The public can also pay $20 per person per hour to use one of the shooting lanes but will be restricted to certain areas of the 43,000-square-foot club.

The club features 40 climate-controlled shooting lanes. The 36 lanes for handgun practice are 25 yards long, which is typical in the industry. The Frisco Gun Club will also offer four 100-yard lanes for rifle target practice and lining up sights.

“We expect the rifle ranges to be in constant use because you can’t get them anywhere else,” said Brandon Johnson, the club’s director of marketing.

Putnam said the demand exists for more gun ranges, especially in North Texas. And even as Washington debates stricter gun laws, he said he won’t wade into the politics related to gun ownership though he is a strong supporter of the Second Amendment.

He owns the Bullet Trap indoor gun range in Plano and said he finds lots of people waiting in line to use one of the 20 lanes there. With an affluent and growing population, Frisco will be his flagship location, but Putnam said he hopes to eventually open smaller gun ranges in McKinney, Allen and Southlake.

It’s the luxury element that will take the Frisco Gun Club to a new level. The club’s top-level memberships are geared toward high-end gun owners and business executives looking to entertain clients. Putnam likens his venture to the luxury Athena Gun Club, which opened late last year in Houston. The 38,000-square-foot club with 26 shooting lanes offers VIP members exclusive services and pampering along with access to a cigar lounge and corporate conference rooms.

The Frisco Gun Club will operate a 7,000-square-foot retail area, offer on-site gun storage and employ three gunsmiths for repairs, modifications and upgrades. A 100-person training room will be available for concealed handgun license courses, safety classes, corporate retreats or private parties. The club also expects to offer family events and ladies’ nights out, which have become popular attractions for gun ranges.

A cafe will be open to the public, but VIP members and their guests will have exclusive access to a high-end dining area. The club is expected to open in mid- to late summer.

“You’ll be very impressed with this facility,” Putnam told a large crowd gathered for Friday’s groundbreaking. “It will be a safe family environment.”

Putnam’s road to this week’s groundbreaking hasn’t been easy. And his business has often been confused with another indoor range that was proposed a half-mile away that also used the name Frisco Gun Club. A groundbreaking at that site was held last April.

That venture has been dropped. It was led by Jim Pisoni, who also owns the DFW Gun Range in Dallas. A lawsuit filed last year by Putnam was dismissed in September after both parties worked out their differences behind closed doors.

Putnam said the two entities are on good terms now, but it wasn’t always that way.

His lawsuit alleged that “defendants schemed and launched an aggressive campaign, with the help of third parties and defendants, in an attempt to kill plaintiff’s business.”

Pisoni could not be reached for comment.

The Frisco Economic Development Corp. entered into an agreement with Putnam’s Frisco Gun Club that provides $75,000 for infrastructure improvements in exchange for requirements on size, the building’s value and the number of employees. Putnam expects to have about 50 employees.

Barbara Bartlett of Frisco is a longtime gun owner and is looking forward to the gun club’s opening. The newness and quality are big factors for her. “Most gun clubs are run-down and cater more to the old school environment,” she said.

Frisco Mayor Maher Maso, who owns a gun, said the new club will be a regional draw. “There’s really not anything around like it,” he said.